Summary note

The rules on this page have been approved in concept by the SCRAP committee, but the exact wording is still being adjusted. Please use these rules. Please send any feedback to SCRAP.

Summary notes (MARC tag 520) are required for all children's materials. They are also recommended for all materials whose contents cannot be physically browsed, such as audiobooks and videorecordings. A summary note is not required if an existing contents note is descriptive of the nature and the scope of the work.

For guidelines on how to write a good summary, see Library of Congress CIP guidelines for summaries, Appendix B, Section III.

External Links

• MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data: 520: Summary, Etc.
• Bibliographic Formats & Standards: 520 Summary, Etc.